


The Fall of Hydra

by tisfan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 06:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10211261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tisfan/pseuds/tisfan
Summary: The Son of Medusa with his stone gray eyes... falls in love with the mortal, Steve...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wearing_tearing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearing_tearing/gifts).



**Stanza**

Bucky was the third hatched child of Medusa, the only surviving boy, and half-god, half gorgon. Despite that, he was born with a very human-style body, strong and fit. He was beautiful, even in the moment of his hatching, and he only grew more glorious as he aged. But he aged very slowly; he was not immortal, but the ichor of the gods flowed in his veins, and he was near enough.

He’d been hatched from an egg formed of adamantium, the silver metal of the gods, the son of the Gorgon Medusa and the god of the sea, Poseidon. He was the only son that lived; of the initial clutch, his mom had obtained four daughters and several sons who took one look at Mom and turned to stone. Bucky, on the other hand, with his stone-gray eyes, had been immune to the gorgon’s stare and thus was able to enjoy his mother’s beauty and the stupid faces his sisters pulled from time to time without any harm.

When Bucky got older, he’d gathered those tiny, pathetic statues and laid them to rest on the far side of the cavern. After Athena had gone all bugnuts on Mom -- something about Poseidon and Athena’s temple, Bucky never really paid attention because the thought of someone fucking his mom and then abandoning her never failed to piss him off -- they’d moved into the caves below the sea and had as little to do with the topside world as possible.

His sisters were all different from Bucky. The youngest two were like Medusa; beautiful, with the crowing glory of snakes instead of hair. The older two had tails like great fish, and they swam out in the ocean to hunt down fish and gather delicacies from the shore. All of them had the same deadly gaze. One day, his oldest sister, Keto, saved a ship of humans from drowning, but in the process, accidentally turned the king’s son to stone. The men geared up, hunted her down, and cut off her head.

Years after that, the second oldest found a way to control her gaze; she made glasses from polished crystal and so long as she never took them off, she was safe. She met a man from the surface who claimed to love her, and she went to him as wife. But after some years of laying with him as his wife and bearing him several children (who were human enough, although two of the girls has gills like fish, and the other two had the same stone-gray eyes as their uncle) the man snatched the glasses off her face, wanting to see what secrets she hid in her eyes.

Bucky’s sister returned home, widowed, with her children and vowed never to set foot on the surface again.

Pepper, the other fish-tailed gorgon, was Bucky’s constant companion. He could not swim as well as she could, but he could hold his breath for a powerful amount of time, and he hunted with her as he grew older.

He learned to throw a spear, to fight the great beasts that lurked under the waves -- especially the terrible hydra that bit and clawed and chewed and gained another head, each time one was cut off. Hydra was a terrible enemy, and one that Bucky and Pepper went out of their way to avoid whenever possible.

Bucky grew fond of these excursions out into the greater ocean, and was delighted by the chance to collect sea-smoothed stones and pretty shells. His sister led him to the shipwrecks and they enjoyed taking the human things and bringing them home. Except for mirrors; Bucky always went first, to make certain that there were no reflective surfaces that might harm his sister, before they explored.

Even with the best intentions and the most care, Bucky and Pepper accidentally woke the Hydra, drawing its attention as they raced and cavorted beneath the waves, and they smelled just good enough to the beast that it decided it was hungry.

The beast had chased them, one time, nearly to shore, before Bucky distracted it by gutting open an enormous sturgeon as they swam past and Hydra had stopped to feed. The stupid thing was well sated, but Bucky and Pepper lingered near the shallows for quite some time, terrified to go home, worried to cross Hydra’s path again. They rested on the rocks and watched the shore, their demi-god eyes keener than humans, and therefore, they could see much further. It was safe for them to observe, knowing that from a distance, the humans would see only sealions basking.

It was there that Bucky first discovered men.

Truth, he’d been the only man he’d ever known. His father certainly didn’t come to them, and although Medusa had described the god to her children, Bucky had never been able to picture anything like it. For reasons of safety, gorgons did not have mirrors in their home, and Bucky had never seen himself. He knew he was different from his sisters in the shape of his body, but that was nothing surprising; he had neither gills nor fins, not snakes in his hair.

But from the first day he saw the blonde boy at the ocean’s shore, Bucky had known something else entirely.

Love.

The boy was beautiful, and like all beautiful things, Bucky had the immediate desire to collect him and take him home.

The first months, Bucky only looked. Pepper was horrified at the idea of him exposing himself to humans; she had learned to hate them with the death of their two sisters, and Bucky couldn’t blame her, but at the same time… he wanted. And Bucky had never known want before.

Pepper tried to drag him away, to prevent him from coming to the rocks and watching, but Bucky grew into manhood and he was faster than she. And she was timid; she would never come closer than the rocks, and so Bucky made his way to the shore, to watch behind the seagrass there.

He learned that Steve was the son of Sarah, a human woman with a bad cough, and that her husband had been a soldier, lost in war.

War was a concept that Bucky had not learned before, and he lingered near the hut sometimes at night, to listen to Sara tell stories to the boy, between the choking rasp of her cough.

After some time, it occurred to Bucky that Steve and Sarah did not have enough food, and Bucky started collecting for them, as well as for his sisters. He brought gifts of raw oysters and left them outside the door. He slew the enormous sturgeons and cut half the flank to leave for the mother and son. The sea was generous and he was a son of Poseidon.

And so it came to pass that Steve waited at the door one night, to see who their benefactor was, and that was the beginning of the story.

**Dactylic Hexameter**

When Steve had been born, the signs and portents were all aligned that here was the birth of a hero. Joseph, a simple soldier, had made the trek to Delphi, to meet with the Pythia. He paid the sum of gold due as a supplicant and bathed in the spring waters to purify himself.

The Pythia, clothed in a purple robe, was a maiden of only some sixteen years, and she spoke not heralds of glory, but of doom.

The child would, someday, become a hero and rid the world of a great evil, but only if one who went to his aid would be sore wounded and lose a part of himself forever. If the sacrifice did not come to pass, the child would die in obscurity and the line would end with him.

Word spread, rumor traveled faster than horses, and by the time Steve’s father returned to their small village, the entire township had turned against them. No one wanted to lose a great part of themselves, no one wanted to be mistaken for that person in the prophecy, and thus, they were exiled to a tiny hut on the sands.

Joseph was bitter and angry. After so much gold and time, the family was near to starving, and the child was ill and small, not hero material at all. The soldier gave himself over to the solace of drink and blaming his wife for her ill-conceived child. In the end, Steve’s father decided that the child was not his, and abandoned the family for the glories of war. He died in the first battle, not even from an enemy strike, but from being crushed accidentally under a supply wagon.

The child and the mother suffered many hardships, but one spring day, they received a gift of food, bounty from the ocean. Steve brought the food inside and helped his mother to cook and prepare it for storage, and then they ate their fill and Steve knew what it was to not be hungry for the first time in his short, child’s life.

And so many moons passed until one fair night, the land bathed in endless moonlight, that Steve laid a trap for their benefactor, not from maliciousness, but so that he could be thanked as he deserved.

When Steve reached out from his place behind the laurel tree, he grabbed the stranger’s wrist.

“Wait,” he cried, “don’t go!”

And found himself face to face with a beautiful boy; dark hair and stone-gray eyes, with a perfect bow of a mouth and skin like golden silk.

“I only wanted to thank you,” Steve said.

The boy touched Steve’s face, traced the line of his cheek. “Thank me, then, with a kiss.”

And that is where our story begins.

**Stichomythia**

From that moment forward, the boys were nigh inseparable. Bucky returned to the sea to hunt, to bring food to his mother and sisters, and then he was on the shore ahead, hand in hand with his friend.

As time passed, the boys, as boys always do, grew into men. Bucky was tall and strong, his body taking on the dimensions of the child of Poseidon, muscular arms and broad-chested. And at his side, the tiny, golden Steve, was noble of spirit and quick of mind. Together, they faced the world and won it.

Until there came the Hydra. A creature that could live both in the ocean and on land, the Hydra was one of the monsters of Tartarus, evil and cruel. The Hydra delighted in not just hunting and killing, but it also played with its food, relishing each cry of pain and taking great glee in leaving part of a family group intact to mourn.

Thus it was when it happened across Steve. The Hydra knew that the child of Poseidon loved the blonde man, and knew also that Bucky was one of the few creatures that had ever escaped the Hydra’s grasp.

So the beast plotted and planned, and in its evil heart, a strategy for both feeding it (and the young that it hoped one day to hatch, egg upon egg as far as the eye could see in its frozen and desolate home) and for destroying the child of Medusa in repayment for that long ago humiliation.

The Hydra knew that the man, Steve, was pure of heart, and despite those who had cast him out, he burned full of righteous fury. The man, with little strength or stamina, could not let an evil pass unchecked, and it was in this manner that the Hydra drew him out.

It was, after all, a monstrous beast. It severed heads and sent them to walk as men in the world of mortals. Some were sent to hurt and harm, others were sent to promise aid to one hero brave enough to face the monsters, brave enough to risk it all.

Steve, hearing about the great wonders a prophet of the gods could deliver, snuck away. He knew that Bucky would never let him take the risk, and while he desperately loved his friend, Steve also desperately needed to prove himself. He journeyed to the temple of Ares where Erskine was, and asked for help. But because Steve was also honest, he told Erskine of the doom that had been set upon him. Back in its lair, the Hydra rejoiced and knew exactly what to make of this information. Hydra set another one of its heads to the temple of Ares.

Erskine promised Steve that he was willing to help, no matter the sacrifice, because Steve was a good man, and his magic amplifies everything inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. He claims this is why Steve was chosen. Because the strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion. Steve consented to the magic and drank the wine that Erskine provided. He slept overnight in the bower and woke strong, dexterous and bursting with energy.

Steve exited the leafy circle, blessed by the gods, to tell Erskine of the success and discovered nothing but a body. Erskine had been slain, and when Steve asked, he was told that the great Hydra had killed Erskine. He learned that the Hydra was vast and dangerous, and that when one head was cut off, two more grew in its place. Only the bravest and the strongest could defeat the Hydra.

Steve believed, now, that the curse of the gods was lifted, that Erskine had dared to help him, and in return, had lost everything. Grieving for the man he believed was his friend, Steve returned to the cottage where his mother lived to find that she, too, had been destroyed by the Hydra. Bucky was there, cradling the body, and grieving for his friend’s pain.

Steve was filled with a great rage against the Hydra and would have set off that moment to destroy the beast. Bucky put a hand out to him and pleaded with him to stay, to bury his parent, and to wait for Bucky.

“I can do it on my own,” Steve said, his rage great enough to squeeze his heart.

“Yeah, but the thing is, you don’t have to,” Bucky said, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Because I’m with you til the end.”

The two men put Sarah to rest, and then armed themselves for the battle to come.

To aid Steve, Bucky braided a lock of his hair, tied it around Steve’s wrist, that the mortal could breathe in the ocean as well as on land. “It will protect you,” Bucky said, and kissed the soft skin of Steve’s palm.

They ventured into the ocean, with Bucky leading the way. They stopped, briefly, by the gorgon’s cave, where Bucky had grown up. Steve was forced to blindfold himself that Medusa and Bucky’s sisters would not turn to stone, but he did so gladly, and Medusa allowed the young man to touch her face that he might recognize her again, and her snakes wrapped around his wrists and smelled him and knew who he was.

Medusa gave her son her blessing, and more than that, she passed along to Steve the enchanted shield of the mortal, Perseus, who had attempted to use its highly reflective surface to slay Medusa and her daughters. He had failed and Pepper had painted the shield over, so that the magical protection could remain, but that it would never harm anyone. Steve took up the shield with gratitude and kissed Medusa’s hand in thanks.

Steve and Bucky were kissed each by Medusa and Bucky’s sisters, and then they ventured out into the deep sea, to find the Hydra. On their way to the Hydra’s lair, their adventures were great and mighty. They faced many trials and hardships, but eventually came to face the great beast.

**Tragodia**

To one side of the Hydra’s lair were the gates of Tartarus, bold and made of copper, stained green and covered with barnacles. The gates hung open, just a little, just enough for one soul to pass through. Behind those gates was madness, despair, and chaos. Steve shuddered and dragged Bucky past as fast as he could, even if Bucky could not help but stare back at the gates that stood, alone on the ocean floor, and the only way to get to Tartarus was through the gates that lead to nowhere. Exactly how chaos should be, Bucky felt. It was right, deep in his soul, the rightness of the gates.

The chorus would eventually sing of the two young heroes who braved the Hydra's lair, and they would tell how dark the cavern was, under the ocean, the air stale and hot and foul, and they would tell of the bones of men that littered the blood-stained sands. They would tell of the eternal darkness and the sound of their breath, matching up, as they moved through the cave.

What they wouldn’t tell of, because no one would ever know, was how terrified they were. Their hands linked together in the darkness and they each felt bracer for the presence of the other. Stronger, for the presence of the other.

The Hydra was stealthy, faster than something that size should have been, and the first warning they had of its approach was that it neatly tore a strip out of Steve’s back with one razor claw.

They couldn’t fight in the darkness, and Bucky found himself praying to Poseidon for the first time in his young life that his father would give them aid. And from the stones and the sea came a gentle glow, the bioluminescence of hundreds of tiny sea creatures, that the men not face their deaths in the darkness.

The Hydra towered over them, rage and scale and snapping teeth. Hundreds of heads lunged at them, tangled together in knots with their necks. There was nowhere to run that several of the heads would not follow them, and it was only because there were so many heads that the two survived for more than a few moments. One belly of the beast, but hundreds of heads arguing for the privilege of being the one to bite.

Steve swung his shield to great effect, knocking back the heads and stunning them, while Bucky engaged the main trunk of the beast; the heads were useless, but Bucky used spears to pierce the body and make it bleed. The stupid thing was so senseless that some of the heads, scenting blood, bit and tore at the wounds, making them worse. They were winning. They were _winning._

Bucky slipped closer to the beast, hand on a dagger, with the intent to find the beast’s heart and cut it out, when a head, sensing movement, lowered and snapped at the blade. Bucky’s arm slipped between the massive jaws and when the head bit down, his arm was torn clear off.

His screams echoed in the cavern.

“Bucky! No!” Steve charged in, shield wild, driving the creature. The Hydra attempted to retreat, with Steve close behind, brutal in his rage. The beast retreated, and Steve found himself outside the Hydra’s lair, forcing it back, toward the gates of Tartarus.

Bucky slowly got to his feet, clutching the stump where his arm used to be. He staggered out of the cavern, clutching his last spear in his remaining hand.

The Hydra was forced into the doorway, but resisted, tangling its heads around the great columns that supported the gate. Steve methodically bashed them. When two alone remained, Bucky was close enough. He threw his spear, piercing the last head and cutting it loose from its grip. The final head grabbed at Steve and dragged him toward Tartarus.

“Steve!” Bucky ran, fast as he could, but he was too late. A mortal crossed over the divide between the earth and Tartarus, freezing him solid in an instant.

Bucky dragged Steve from the depths of Tartarus, frozen and stiff as the statues his mother formed with her gaze and pushed the gates until they closed. He slumped to the ocean floor, blood still leaking from his wounds, his friend lifeless in his arm.

“Til the end,” he said, softly, stroking Steve’s hair from his face. He closed his eyes.

**Eromenos**

That his beloved son would not perish, Poseidon sent to them a great sea turtle to carry them on their way. He roused his daughter, Pepper, and had her meet the heroes, carrying the remains of Bucky’s egg with her, the strange metals that formed it carried in a sack over her shoulder.

When Bucky woke, he found a strange metal arm where his hand used to be, shiny and strong. “What is this?”

The man in the room, dark haired, and impossibly fair of face, turned to him. “Hey there, Venus de Milo,” the man said. “I’m Tony, son of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Which is why I am infinitely clever and fabulously good looking to boot. Good genes, my friend. So, how are you feeling? Arm working okay? That’s good, that’s good. By the way, do you think your mom would mind if I married your sister, because one, she is smokin’ hot and two, she’s really quite clever, and three, did I mention she’s hot?”

Bucky raised the metal arm to stare at it, admiring the sleek movements and the easy flexibility.

“Where is Steve?”

“The Iceman cometh,” Tony said, solemnly, then grinned with a Hades-may-care twinkle in his eye. “He’s thawing by the forge. Should be good as new in a day or so.”

Tony walked over, grabbed Bucky’s metal wrist and started pulling the arm through various testing exercises, which had Bucky gritting his teeth as he adjusted to the new limb and the weird humming sounds it made.

Pepper entered the room, carrying a tray of food for her brother and a bottle of wine for Tony. “Face it,” Tony said, as Pepper stared at him, “this is not the weirdest thing you will ever walk in on me doing. Ah, wine! Fantastic. You are a blessing and a goddess, my dear.” He kissed her cheek and took the bottle of wine from her hand.

Pepper rolled her eyes and gave Tony the brush-off, but Bucky could tell, there was something special in her smile for him. “I don’t have time for your insincere flatter today,” she said.

“Excuse you, my flattery is always sincere,” Tony said. “You are the light of my life, the apple of my eye, the -- ooh, look, cheese!” And Tony started snitching things off Bucky’s breakfast tray.

“Sir,” a disembodied voice said, and Bucky jerked back, staring around. There was no one there.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” Tony said, “that’s just my Peitharchia spirit; I call him Jarvis. He’s kinda a servant slash reminder slash watchdog slash nag slash best friend --”

“Enough, Tony,” Pepper said, covering his mouth with her fingers.

Tony kissed Pepper’s fingers, then said, “What’s up, J?”

“You wished to be told when the other young man was feeling better, sir,” Jarvis said.

“Oh, ding ding, microwave dinner’s done!” Tony exclaimed, clapping his hands together once. “Shall I take you to him?”

Bucky was already out of the bed, feet on the floor, by the time Tony finished talking, and a moment later was being shown into another room, near the force, where Steve was sitting on a bench, soaking wet and shivering.

Bucky ran to him, snatching up a blanket to wrap it around Steve’s shoulders and stop the shaking. “Steve!”

Steve made an enormous effort and raised his head. “Bucky?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, drawing his friend, his love, into his arms, one hot flesh, the other cool metal, and resting that fair head against his chest. “It’s me, pal. You’re alive, you’re here, you’re safe.”

“Til the end, pal,” Steve said. He twined his fingers with Bucky’s and they sat there, in perfect harmony. “I love you.”


End file.
